Which ‘Bridgerton’ Couples Will Return in Season 5?
What To Know
- Several couples have been confirmed to return in Bridgerton Season 5.
- Showrunner Jess Brownell has shared the futures of several couples, including Season 3’s Colin and Penelope, and Season 4’s Benedict and Sophie.
- Simone Ashley confirmed the future of Kate and Jonathan Bailey’s Anthony, as well.
Bridgerton‘s formula has proven to be a popular one, switching focus to a different romantic pairing each season. It doesn’t stop fans from falling in love with a couple and wanting to see them return. As Francesca (Hannah Dodd) and Michaela (Masali Baduza) take center stage in Season 5, what does that mean for the couples that came before them?
While Season 5 production is underway, we finally learned the fate of Season 2 leads Kate (Simone Ashley) and Anthony (Jonathan Bailey) in the next installment of the Netflix period drama. Season 1’s Simon (Regé-Jean Page) and Daphne (Phoebe Dynevor) have been missing for a couple of seasons, but is there any chance they could make a comeback?
Swooon has all the latest updates, including some insights about what’s next for each couple from showrunner Jess Brownell. Find out what’s in store for Colin and Penelope, Benedict and Sophie, and more in Season 5.
Netflix
Colin & Penelope
Status: Confirmed
Brownell told Swooon that Polin’s story isn’t over yet. She’s looking forward to seeing their relationship develop now that they’re both novelists, since Penelope has retired as Lady Whistledown. “But I think chiefly what will be interesting is seeing the way that they each are there for their various siblings,” the showrunner teased.
She continued, “Obviously, Penelope has a very close relationship with Eloise [Claudia Jessie], and that’s something that we will continue to discover. Colin, I think, has a very close relationship with his brothers, with Eloise, and also with the younger siblings.”
For Colin, she cited his relationship with his younger brother, Gregory (Will Tilston). “I think there’s a really interesting dynamic there, as we saw in Colin’s season, Gregory kind of looking up to his older brother when he came back from his travels,” she said. “There are a lot of sibling threads that we’ll continue playing with.”
In August 2026, Coughlan opened up about having a reduced role in Season 5. Explaining to E! News that it’s “so nice and low pressure” to have a less intense plot, the actress said, “It’s bittersweet. I feel like, God, I had such an epic run. I think that’s part of the beauty of that world is it keeps reinventing itself. Every season being a new story — it takes on a different guise.”
She added, “I’ll always pop back to Bridgerton if they want me. If I can be set dressing, I’ll be there. No problem.”
Netflix
Benedict & Sophie
Status: Confirmed
Brownell revealed that she’s excited to see Benedict (Luke Thompson) and Sophie (Yerin Ha) living in the world as a married couple, adding that “they can be in society going forward because of the Queen [Golda Rosheuvel] sanctioning this lie that gets created.”
In addition to seeing Sophie wear some “fabulous gowns next season,” Brownell said she’s looking forward to exploring how her relationship with Benedict plays out because “Benedict doesn’t automatically become conventional just because he’s married now.”
“He’s still a really fun, romantic, excitable guy, and getting to see the way that that translates to his passion for Sophie within the context of society will be really beautiful,” Brownell explained.
Netflix
Anthony & Kate
Status: Confirmed
Anthony and Kate had a lessened presence in Season 4 due to the actors’ schedules, which left fans wondering how involved they would be in Season 5. But Ashley soothed their fears in a September 2026 interview.
The actress told Elle that Bailey taught her the value of staying loyal to fans, confirming they’ll both appear in Season 5. “It changed my life and, without it, I wouldn’t be where I am,” Ashley said. “That show reached near and far. Even in the places you don’t think you’ll get recognized, you do. Whenever it finishes, it’s going to be the end of an era. I think they have about four or five more siblings to get through. I’m in it till the end!”
In June 2025, Bailey assured that he had no plans to step away from his Bridgerton character. “I know how much I love long-running series,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “I know how important familiarity of character and story and consistency is in these long-running series.”
Brownell also opened up about Kate and Anthony’s future before they were confirmed for Season 5. “But it’s also about the themes of the season and what the connection is like between the leads of that season and past leads…” she told TV Guide. “I would also really expect to see Kate in Eloise’s season because the two of them have this runner where they have kind of a special relationship, and obviously Penelope. It does depend on who we’re focusing on.”
Netflix
Daphne & Simon
Status: Unlikely
Daphne hasn’t appeared since Season 2, and Simon hasn’t shown up in any seasons other than his own. Upon the release of Season 4, Variety asked Brownell about recasting their roles, and she confirmed she isn’t interested in doing so.
“I think it would feel like a disservice to everything Regé and Phoebe set up in Season 1, and all the beautiful work they put into those characters,” she said. “Logistically, we want to make sure we bring them back when we have something really meaty for them. And to have them come back to say a line at a funeral and just prove that they were there, it wouldn’t feel right for many reasons.”
She continued, “So I think in my mind, the camera doesn’t capture everything. They’re hypothetically there; it’s television. But we would love to find a time to bring everyone back at some point in the future
Page told Variety that he only ever planned to film one season of Bridgerton. “It’s a one-season arc. It’s going to have a beginning, middle, end — give us a year,” Page said. “[I thought] ‘That’s interesting,’ because then it felt like a limited series. I get to come in, I get to contribute my bit, and then the Bridgerton family rolls on.”
ScreenRant reported that Dynevor said she was “sadly not in Season 3. Potentially in the future.” Around the same time, the actress, who was absent in Season 4, told Variety, “Well, I did my two seasons. I’ve done what I wanted to do with that character, and she had a great arc. If they ask me back in the future, who knows?”
Alice & Will Mondrich
Liam Daniel / Netflix
Status: Highly Likely
Alice (Emma Naomi) and Will Mondrich (Martins Imhangbe) continue to make an impression in the world of Bridgerton. In Season 4, Alice became one of Queen Charlotte’s new ladies-in-waiting, so she will most likely be returning for Season 5 and beyond. Now that someone new has taken up the Lady Whistledown pen, many have begun theorizing that Alice will be the one behind the Society Papers going forward. We’ll just have to wait and see!
Which couples are you most looking forward to seeing in Season 5? Sound off in the comments!
Bridgerton, Season 5, TBA 2027, Netflix
